IRRESPONSIBLE ACT: Third incident in a week

SUNGKAI: ANOTHER Automated Enforcement System (AES) camera was vandalised, here, yesterday even as the authorities investigate a similar incident which occurred in Selangor over the weekend.

In the latest incident, the camera, located at Km80 of the Sungkai-Slim River federal road near Kampung Hendra, was sprayed with black paint. This is the third incident reported in less than a week.

On Saturday, cameras at Km301.7 of the North-South Expressway and Km6.6 of the South Klang Valley Expressway were sprayed with red paint.

It is learnt the camera in Sungkai, which malfunctioned last week, was programmed to capture motorists travelling at more than 60km per hour.

Motorist Abdul Rahman Talib, 45, expressed regret at this act of vandalism as the camera was put up to save lives.

"The act was probably done at night when traffic was light."

He hoped the camera would be repaired soon as motorists tended to speed at that stretch, ignoring the safety of nearby villagers.

In Selangor, state deputy police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan said police were working on several leads to bring to book those who vandalised the cameras.

The Selangor government has said it will assist police in the investigations.

Its executive councillor in charge of local councils, Ronnie Liu, said that despite the state government's protest against the setting up of the AES cameras, the Sepang Municipal Council would help police in finding the perpetrators, as the cameras were located in its jurisdiction.

"Those with leads can contact e Sepang municipal council as we have a unit to monitor the situation." Additional reporting by Akil Yunus